The influence of the educational reform in Slovakia on educational contents and technology in pre-college economic education

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Purpose – the Slovak educational reform caused many changes in the Slovak school system. In the article, the author analyzes the impact it had on the educational contents and technology in pre-college economic education as part of general education. Design/methodology/approach – curriculum documents analysis, literature review, opinion survey (questionnaire), qualitative research (interview). Findings – he reform resulted in more teaching time as well as more practical orientation of economic education in general education in primary and secondary schools. However, what is still missing in the contents of this branch of economic education is more space for entrepreneurship education that would help to develop entrepreneurial skills necessary for the students to become more economically independent after they leave school. Although the reform gave schools more freedom in creating their school educational programs, it did not provide them with extra funds to finance the necessary modernization of the educational technologies they use. The differences in the use of modern ICT between different schools are thus attributable to other factors, unrelated to the educational reform process. Research limitations/implications – in the analysis of the contents of pre-college economic education, the author focused on the educational standards set by the state educational program, which must be respected by all schools in Slovakia. Although the reality of economic education in general education differs among schools (some schools created even several separated economic courses compulsory for all their students, others offer only a minimum required by the state educational program infused in a compulsory social studies course), it might also be interesting to analyze a sample of school educational programs for comparison and a more in-depth analysis.